- Keeping China in focus, India is bringing together its Indo-Pacific and Asean policies under a single unit,
- with the ministry of external affairs creating a new vertical,
- which includes a new Oceania territorial division with Australia at its centre,
- as well as including the Indo-Pacific and Asean divisions within it.
- Essentially, the move is intended to align policies in the region stretching from western Pacific (with the Pacific islands) to the Andaman Sea and
- the very area China regards as its strategic backyard and is jostling for influence with its smaller neighbours and the US.
- By focusing administrative and diplomatic attention, India wants to signal its own focus on the region.
- The Oceania division will include Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands and this gives Australia greater prominence within MEA.
- Australia has been growing in importance in India’s foreign policy, but within the MEA structure, it was part of the ‘South’ division.
- This was felt to be necessary with Australia playing a larger role in India’s outreach to this region and because of the Quad.
- Earlier, the MEA had created the Indian Ocean division, bringing together Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles. In late 2019, MEA included Madagascar, Comoros and Reunion Islands into the IOR division, expanding its ambit.